Food Manufacturer – Director of Manufacturing

Our client is a fast-growing, multi-facility food manufacturer headquartered in Southern Ontario. The company produces a wide range of branded, custom manufactured and private labeled food products for distribution across a variety of retail, industrial and institutional markets. The company boasts a dominant market position in several of its product categories.
With a rich tradition of innovation and an impeccable track record of long-term profitability, our client is executing an exciting strategy of accelerated growth. Realizing this potential, while concurrently enhancing the company’s current capabilities, will be a key mandate of the new Director of Manufacturing.

Scope of Position

Reporting to the company’s President and CEO, the Director of Manufacturing will be responsible for all matters relating to the company’s production processes from the ordering of goods and raw materials through to ensuring the efficient production of sufficient product quantities to keep pace with market demand. In achieving this, the Director of Manufacturing will evaluate all existing systems, processes and metrics with a view to recommending and then implementing continuous improvements mechanisms and disciplines which will minimize production costs and waste while maximizing production outputs.

No less important, the Director of Manufacturing will achieve these results by cultivating positive relationships across the organization while nurturing a culture of excellence.

Functional Tasks

• Align and execute operational plans to strategic plans. Ensure deliverables are met.
  
  Assess and evaluate all current production processes, make recommendations and execute ongoing changes that improve efficiencies and cost effectiveness.
• Develop meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics by which to better monitor, manage and improve operations.
• Develop strategic projects to identify and deliver key business improvements throughout operations from identifying initial potential opportunity, delivering the business case, gaining approval and delivering to agreed scope, budget and timescale.
• Cultivate a continuous improvement or related lean manufacturing culture across the organization.
• Play a hands-on role in managing all day to day operations working closely with key managers and team members.
• Supervise preparation of production schedules and plan ordering cycles to ensure production volumes can be met
• Implement and manage systems for the ordering or goods and raw materials that minimizes stockholding quantities yet is suitably timed to ensure uninterrupted production of all of the company’s product lines in keeping with the market demand for each product.
• Continue evaluate costing and supply chain strategies and approaches against best practices.
• Strategic planning, budget preparation and accountability for operational matters within the budget process.
• Manage and oversee the maintenance and servicing of the company’s production equipment to minimize down times while maximizing the efficiency and working life of all production equipment and machinery.
• Set up working systems which minimize loss of packaging materials during the production process.
• Ensure that company remains compliant with all provincial and national regulatory standards.
• Ensure that quality processes and standards are compliant and continually enhanced.
• Evaluate staff related processes and procedures including work rules, position descriptions, responsibilities, training etc with a view to both optimizing productivity and enhancing employee relations. Gain alignment with needs of the business.
• Proactively pursue strong positive relationships with representatives of the employee group.
• Motivate staff through being a positive, encouraging champion for continual improvement.
• Contribute to the overall executive management of the firm, as part of the senior management team.
• Foster strong working relationship with executive team members as well as company owners.

Key Performance Deliverables

In light of the identified responsibilities, the following are specific deliverables that the position is designed to achieve.

• Continuous improvement and service delivery…